Deep Dish Pizza

For 2 x 9" pizzas (for 8" cast iron, 40% of recipe; use google drive). Takes about 2-3 hours of rising time; start ~3.5 - 4 hr before dinner time.

Notes: IMPORTANT: Warm up sauce if cold. Make sure to make dough a little thinner when pushing it into corners of pan. 10x8" metal pan worked well, but it took about 45 min and the cheese wasn't really melted (probably due to using cold sauce). Don't use fresh spinach as it's too wet. Use frozen and squeeze out. If using any fresh veggies, pre-cook a bit as they weren't really done.

306 g (3 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour

60 g (½ cup) yellow cornmeal

1 and 1/4 teaspoons salt (none if using salted butter)

1 tbsp sugar

7 g (2 and 1/4 tsp) instant yeast (1 standard packet)

300 ml (1 1/4 cups) 90F water

1/2 cup unsalted butter, divided (1/4 cup melted, 1/4 cup softened to room temperature)

olive oil for coating


  1. Combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar, and yeast in large bowl and mix with wooden spoon.

  2. Add the 90F water and 1/2 of melted butter (not hot).

  3. Add dough to food processor and knead for ~30 seconds. If the dough is too hard (it will be textured from the cornmeal), beat in a teaspoon of warm water. Alternatively, if it feels too soft, beat in a tbsp of flour.

  4. Remove the dough from the bowl and form into a ball.

  5. Coat dough with olive oil and place inside a bowl.

  6. Cover the bowl tightly and allow to rise in a warm environment for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.

  7. Lightly flour a large work surface and gently punch down the dough to remove any air bubbles and roll the dough into a large 15x12 rectangle.

  8. Spread 1/4 cup of softened butter on top of the dough and roll it up lengthwise.

  9. Cut the dough log in half, form into balls and place back into your greased bowl.

  10. Cover and allow to rise in the refrigerator for 1 hour until they are puffy.

  11. Preheat oven to 425F degrees.

  12. Assemble the pizzas:

  13. Roll dough out on a lightly floured work surface, working it into a 12-inch circle.

  14. Place over a 9x2 inch deep dish cake pan and press the dough into the pan (Make sure it is nice and tight fitting inside the pan and trim any excess dough off the edges).

  15. Brush the top edges of the dough with a little olive oil

  16. Fill each pizza with 1/2 of the cheese (about 2 cups per pizza), then your toppings, then the sauce.

  17. Sprinkle each with 1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese.

  18. Place the cake pans on top of a large baking sheet and bake for 20-28 minutes or until the crust is golden brown (cover with foil if browning too much).

  19. Remove the pizzas from the oven and allow to cool in the pans placed on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Make ahead tip: Dough may be prepared through step 4. In the last part of this step, the dough needs to rise in the refrigerator for 1 hour. You may leave it in the refrigerator for up to 1 full day, making sure to punch it down to remove any air bubbles before rolling out as directed in step 7. You may freeze the pizza doughs after preparing them through step 4, and instead of allowing to rise in the refrigerator, simply freeze for up to 2 months. Then, allow the doughs to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and allow to rise at room temperature for 1 hour before continuing with step 7. Make-ahead and freezing instructions for the sauce are written in step 5.

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